A plea was mentioned before the Supreme Court on Tuesday raising objections to the composition of the High-Powered Committee constituted by the Court to inquire into the allegations of police excesses as well as violence by protesters during the recent Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led demonstrations.
The counsel mentioned the matter before a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, seeking listing of the application.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed the application and termed it "very mysterious", objecting to the suggestion of names for inclusion in the Committee. The SG said that the applicants were challenging the Committee's composition, and had suggested some alternate names.
"The prayer is to reconstitute the Committee and investigate some minister... and they have given names that this judge should be heading it, etc.," said Mehta, adding that he was not saying what the contents of the application are. "This is not a political platform. Something else is happening," Mehta told the bench.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for some applicants, clarified that he was only seeking listing of the application.
CJI observed that the Court did not appreciate names being mentioned in this manner and indicated that the application would be listed along with the main matter.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who is representing some of the petitioners, supported Shankarnarayan's plea, stating that it raised a concern shared by other petitioners as well. He submitted that the petitioners had certain "misgivings" regarding the composition and functioning of the committee.
Responding to the concerns, the CJI said the Court had selected the "best available persons" for the panel. The CJI assured the petitioners that the committee would function under the Court's supervision and with the assistance of all stakeholders. "Whoever will work, will work under our supervision. We have not disposed of the matter. All of you are there to assist the committee. Let them work and see," the CJI said.
The Supreme Court on August 20 constituted a five-member High-Powered Expert Committee (HPEC), headed by retired apex court Justice R Subhash Reddy, to conduct a fact-finding exercise into alleged police excesses during the student protests.
The committee comprises former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Ravi Shankar Jha, former Delhi High Court Justice Shalinder Kaur, former CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla and former Meghalaya DGP LR Bishnoi.
The apex court said the panel would examine the various grievances raised by both protesters and police authorities in connection with the demonstrations. The bench said the HPEC should give priority to allegations of excessive use of force by police, violence by protesters and allegations of harassment and molestation of women protesters.
It also permitted the panel to examine whether interim compensation should be granted to persons injured during the protests, including both police personnel and protesters.
The apex court made clear that the committee's mandate would not be limited to a one-time inquiry and directed the HPEC to periodically submit interim findings so that the Court could assess the situation and issue further directions wherever necessary.
The bench also directed that CCTV recordings of the protests and body-camera footage from police and security personnel, which had earlier been ordered to be preserved, be handed over to the committee for examination.
At the same time, the top court clarified that the formation of the HPEC would not prevent police or other security authorities from initiating departmental or disciplinary proceedings against officers found to have violated applicable rules.
The order had come on a batch of petitions concerning alleged police brutality during protests in Delhi's Jantar Mantar as well as demonstrations in Bihar and other parts of the country over alleged irregularities and question-paper leaks in competitive examinations, including NEET. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
